(The writer's opinions and observations expressed here are his own, and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views, policies or positions of FLW.)

My biggest worry right now is trying to figure out how to cancel my flight for tomorrow. That’s a good worry to have since I’m now fishing on day three.

After sitting in 59^th after Day 1, my thinking was I would love to get out of here with a check. That was my goal, but I also had the kind of practice – as I’m sure everybody did – that I’ve seen what the lake can do right now, because of the added stain to the water. Normally, I’d have been happy just getting a check, but I kept thinking “It could happen here. Someone can catch 20 pounds.”

What added to that thinking was I stumbled upon a little deal late in the afternoon of day one. I kind of feel it’s where the fish have transitioned to since the water levels keep dropping. Fortunately, my buddy that I travel with, Billy Shelton, clued me in on what baits to use – an assortment of Riot Baits products is all I’ll say right now.

So today I ran that pattern in a five-mile section of the lake, and I think you can run it throughout the lake. My first fish was a 4-pounder, and I caught another good one two hours later. That’s when I knew I was on to something, and then I just got into a rhythm. I moved to a spot, caught one or two fish and then moved, caught one or two fish, and then moved again. I only caught nine or 10 keepers, but they’re the right ones. In fact, my very last cast, as I’m pulling my bait out of the water, a 5-plus jumped out of the water to try and get the bait.

So now I’m in sixth, having moved up 53 places today. I have to cancel my flight for Saturday morning, and my mindset now is I just want to make the fourth day. If I do that, then I’ll change gears a little bit, but right now it’s just make it another day.